Geniuses & Prodigies: The Clash!
by Thugisa's refrigeREItor
Summary: The high school boys' basketball and volleyball teams that are dubbed the best in their respective regions are all invited to Tokyo for the grandest sports event of the year, which consists of a stay at a posh hotel run by Akashi Enterprises, biweekly BBQ parties, exhibition games of geniuses & prodigies alike battling it out on the court while befriending each other!
1. 1) Fair Trade

"Akashicchi~" Kise Ryouta sang as he flopped down into the seat next to Akashi Seijuurou, followed by Midorima Shintarou, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Momoi Satsuki.

"Why did you ask us to gather here?" Midorima questioned, stuffing the frog keychain that was his lucky item of the day into his pocket.

"You're just in time." Akashi gestured towards the match in progress on the court below where they were sitting.

"Huh? Akashi, this is a _volleyball game_. Why are we even watching it?" Aomine yawned. "Just let me go back to napping on the roof already..."

"You actually asked a good question for once, Ahomine." Midorima adjusted his glasses and stared at Akashi, awaiting the redhead's response.

 _"What did you just call me?!"_ Aomine growled.

"I agree with Mine-chin, this is annoying~ I ran out of snacks on my way here," Murasakibara grumbled.

Kise sweatdropped. "And here I thought you were also thinking about why we're here, Murasakibaracchi... why don't you give Himuro-san a call? He can bring you some more."

He sweatdropped again when all he got from the giant was an 'it's too much trouble', before returning to look at the volleyball match taking place on the court out of sheer boredom. "What's this... Aoba Jousai High versus Karasuno High... third set... 22 to 24... Karasuno's set point..." he began mumbling.

"I see you do know about volleyball, Kise," Akashi noted.

Kise shrugged. "Not a lot, but I once subbed for a left wing spiker of our junior high team because the original guy broke his arm. That was before I joined the basketball club, of course." The blond's eyes widened. "Whoa, a service ace! That guy has a sick jump serve!"

Oikawa Tooru, the captain of Aoba Jousai VBC, smirked and high-fived Iwaizumi Hajime, who was standing next to him in the current rotation.

Chants of "Oikawa-saaaaaaan! Nice serve!" were heard from a crowd of girls several rows below where the Generation of Miracles were sitting.

On the other side of the court, Sawamura Daichi, the captain of Karasuno VBC, called out to his team. "One more, guys, and we take this set!"

"Yeah!"

Nishinoya Yuu, Karasuno's sophomore libero, received Oikawa's spike-like serve this time. Daichi sent the ball over to Seijou's side of the court, only to have Kindaichi receive it. Watari, their libero, leapt and set the ball in Oikawa's place. Hanamaki spiked a cross, which Nishinoya caught and sent into the air once again. "Ooh, they're all running up to hit the ball together?" Momoi observed.

"Seriously, Satsuki? You're actually watching it?"

"It looks exciting. Though I don't really know anything about volleyball at all."

Kageyama Tobio, Karasuno's genius setter, raised his arms, his palms facing the ceiling. The Seijou players' eyes darted from one Karasuno spiker to the other. _Who would it be? Azumane? Tanaka? Sawamura?_

"Oh, here it comes." Akashi had switched to his other personality for a moment and had already seen through Kageyama's moves with his Emperor Eye. "Watch." With a single word of command, even Murasakibara snapped awake and stared at the court through dreary half-lidded eyes.

The blockers in the front row narrowed their eyes in concentration. _Perfect_ , Kageyama thought, sending a falling toss to his partner, who was already in the air.

Hinata Shouyou grinned broadly and spiked it between a shocked Hanamaki and an appalled Kunimi, whose eyes had barely landed on the orange-haired middle blocker when the ball hit the ground with a resounding thud. The whistle sounded as the scoreboard became 23-25. The entire Karasuno team, having taken two out of three sets, broke out in cheers as they patted Hinata and Kageyama on the backs. "I wasn't sure using the first-tempo synchronized attack as a decoy would work, but I'm glad it did!" Sugawara Koushi smiled like a proud mom and ruffled the first-year duo's hair.

"Shouyou! That was amazing!" Nishinoya exclaimed, eyes shining. "The guys on the other side never could've seen you coming! You should've looked at yourself running from the back line and catching up before any of the others arrived! They were so focused on shutting down the synchronized attack that they didn't see you coming from the side at all!"

"Noya-san!" Hinata glowed at the compliment as they both bounced into the air, ecstatically chattering about the success of their new tactic.

"Those two really have unlimited stamina, huh?" Their ace, Azumane Asahi, laughed.

"Hey, you two, calm down, we're leaving now, other people are gonna use this court -" Daichi was cut off by Suga, who punched him playfully in the arm. "Stop nagging, old man. We won; they deserve to celebrate," he teased.

***  
Akashi relayed his plan to his fellow Miracles, leaning back to see their responses. "Well?"

"So basically, you want to recruit #9 and #10 as the new light-and-shadow duo for our game against Seirin at the end of this event?"

"That #9 doesn't have Kurokocchi's misdirection though... is that still okay?"

"A light-and-shadow duo can come in forms other than that - just take a look at Midorima and his partner Takao-kun. They're like Shuutoku's own brand of a light and his shadow, aren't they? A shadow's job is to make his partner's light shine brighter through making coordination plays with the light that enable the latter to score," Akashi explained. "Misdirection isn't necessary for performing normal assists. #9 and #10 over there have the potential and talent to become our secret weapons; since this is supposed to be a bonding event between us basketball players and the volleyball guys, we're required to recruit someone from the volleyball teams present here for that Seirin game. Under the guidance of our coaches, their godlike quick can be modified - it may prove to be a valuable asset to our victory. Our offence will be greatly strengthened with those two on our team."

"If you put it that way... I guess we can try getting them on board," Midorima commented.

"For a dude his size, that shrimp can jump, I'll give him that. I'm definitely a hell of a lot faster than he is, though," Aomine said.

"With proper training, his jumping ability may even be on par with Seirin's Kagami-kun."

"I don't care~" Murasakibara shrugged.

"With Kagamicchi? That's probably a bit far-fetched... but their quick really is fast! And that #10's got plenty of stamina. We can give it a try. But what happens if they don't agree to join us?"

"We'll just find replacements. Or... resort to more... _drastic_ measures."

Momoi shivered. "Wait, you don't mean blackmail or something, right? That's illegal!"

Akashi just smiled. "Now come on, we've got to catch up with them."

***  
"Ah~ I'm so hungry now! Is it lunchtime yet?"

"You're always hungry after a game," Kageyama rolled his eyes. "We've still got a match against Fukurodani before lunch, dumbass," he stated, before his own stomach began rumbling.

"We've got a break before that, though. Can we get some food first?" Hinata asked Daichi.

"Just be back 10 minutes before our next game starts. Suga, you mind going with them?"

"In case they forget when to come back? Yeah, okay."

"Let's go!" Hinata grabbed Kageyama's hand and pulled him along, Suga trailing after them. "Kenma said there's a Maji Burger nearby, I was thinking about getting five double cheeseburgers for a snack..."

They had barely walked out of the gym when they encountered the Generation of Miracles. "Ah, we've been looking for you. Hinata Shouyou-kun and Kageyama Tobio-kun, right? I'm Akashi Seijuurou, the captain of Rakuzan High basketball club." Akashi smiled and extended a hand to Kageyama, who was scowling.

Suga knocked the back of his kouhai's head. "Come on now, don't make that face at strangers. You'll give them a bad impression."

"He put that dumbass' name before mine..." Kageyama muttered, shaking Akashi's hand reluctantly.

Akashi moved his hand in front of Hinata, only to find that the shorter male was shaking, his mouth agape as he stared at the other GoM members. _S-so tall... most of them are over 1.9m tall! That purple-haired guy... is he a giant or something?!_ "Hinata-kun? Are you okay?"

Murasakibara cocked his head to the side and pressed a hand on top of Hinata's fluffy mass of orange hair. "Hehhh? He's even smaller than Kuro-chin. I feel like I can crush him in seconds."

Hinata squeaked in shock and fear. "P-please don't c-crush me... I-I'm only sixteen! I s-still have my entire l-life ahead of m-me... I don't want t-to die -"

"Don't take that seriously. 'I'll crush you' is just Murasakibaracchi's catchphrase!" Kise chuckled, swatting Murasakibara's hand off Hinata's head.

"Oh, Hinata gets intimidated by tall people easily," Suga explained. Kageyama snorted. Hinata glowered at the other half of Karasuno's oddball freshman duo, silently screaming ' _you picking a fight with me or some shit?!'_

 _Bring it_ , Kageyama returned a similarly intense glare, before their faces were pushed apart by Suga. "Stop with the eye fucks, you two." He turned to Akashi, smiling apologetically. "I'm Sugawara Koushi, a third-year at Karasuno. These two are a handful most of the time - our captain basically sent me to be their handler."

"This guy reminds me of Muro-chin," Murasakibara remarked. "But Muro-chin has a mole under his right eye, not his left."

"It's fine, Sugawara-san," Akashi dismissed the disruption with a wave. "I'll cut to the chase; I would like to invite Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun to join our team as our secret weapons for our finale match against Seirin High basketball club."

"Eh?" The volleyball players were all confused. "You wanna recruit us for a basketball game?" Hinata asked. "But why?"

"Mainly because we need a new power duo to face off against Seirin's light and shadow. It's to increase our offensive power, since we're inferior to Seirin when it comes to teamwork and making combination plays. If your quick is tweaked to fit the principles of basketball, it can be a fairly menacing weapon. Training will be take place during the free practice period every day, it won't clash with your usual volleyball practice. The training sessions won't be too long - the coaches of our respective teams will be supervising them in turn. With their assistance, we can whip you into shape by the end of the summer."

"Light and shadow?" Kageyama frowned, bewildered. "Is that a metaphor of some sort?"

"It is. I'll explain further if you consent to joining us. Oh, and to make this a fair trade, your team is also scouting for some basketball players to play in your final match against Shiratorizawa Gakuen High, yes?"

"We are?" The Karasuno freshmen turned to Suga, whose eyebrows were raised in disbelief. "Uh, yeah... Daichi and I have been on the lookout for new talent, but we haven't come up with anything yet. But how'd you know that?"

Akashi smiled vaguely. "My father runs the hotel we're all staying at; he's a major sponsor of this event. Of course I'm informed of the details of it. Anyway, concerning our trade. We'll also play for your team during the Shiratorizawa match."

Aomine frowned. "Wait, what? I never -" He gave a howl of pain as Momoi and Kise pinched his arms from either side of him. "Shut up unless you want to get stabbed," Momoi warned. "I see scissors in Akashi-kun's pocket."

"Sugawara-san, what do you think about coming to oversee our practice tonight? Take your captain and your coach if you'd like to; Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun should come as well. We'll come and find you afterwards; please do make a decision there. Now, I must depart to meet up with my team. Rakuzan has a game against Haizaki's Fukuda Sogo. We'll see each other soon, Karasuno."

Akashi inclined his head at the Karasuno trio and left the scene, the wind sweeping the jacket he wore over his shoulders up like a billowing cape.

"Dang. I think this is the first time I've ever met someone with an even more commanding presence than Kageyama and the Great King."

"What? I don't have a commanding presence," Kageyama protested.

"Says the King of the Court himself," Hinata mumbled.

If looks could kill, Hinata would've been reduced to nothing but a pile of bones on the ground by Kageyama's glare. "Don't. Ever. Fucking. Call. Me. That."

"Akashicchi isn't called the Emperor for nothing. I'm Kise Ryouta, by the way!" The blond gestured to his companions in turn. "That's Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintarou, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Momoi Satsuki! We look forward to working with you!"

"Wow, your names all start with different colors! Colors that somehow correspond to your hair colors! That's awesome!" Hinata marveled.

"I know, right? Before Akashicchi became our captain in junior high, a senpai called Nijimura Shuuzou captained us! A guy with 'rainbow' in his name!"

"Whoaaaaa!"

Midorima looked at the two enthusiastically exchanging their thoughts on their names. "How simple-minded must they be to get so worked up over simple coincidences?"

"Beats me," Kageyama shrugged.

"Big words from a simpleton idiot like yourself," Suga replied quietly.

"Eh?"

"Nothing."

"And they're already bonding. Do people with similar hair color get along well together by the law of nature?" Aomine raised an eyebrow at the duo with light-colored hair.

"Whaaaat? I thought Mine-chin and Kuro-chin clash when it comes to things other than basketball."

Midorima pressed his glasses further up his nose bridge. "That's a whole load of crap, Aomine. Your hair color doesn't play a role into who you acquaint yourself with. A major reason why you and Kuroko aren't compatible outside of basketball is because of your blood type. Kuroko's type A and your type B tend to clash with each other, which leads to why I also don't get along well with Kuroko and why you always fight with Kise."

"Yeah, yeah. As if that bullshit's got any more logical proof than my point," Aomine rolled his eyes.

" _Ohhhhhhh! Wait!_ " Hinata suddenly exclaimed out of the blue. "I remember hearing Izumin talk about you guys with his basketball teammates back in junior high! He said something about wanting to go to the nationals so that he could go up against this strong team in Tokyo called Teikou, who's been the dominating powerhouse in junior high basketball for as long as it's been in the game! And in the same year as us, there's this team of prodigies with sick abilities and different-colored hair dubbed the Generation of Miracles -"

"Miracles? Seriously?" Suga gaped.

Kageyama scoffed. "Whatever. Basketball ain't got anything to do with me anyway."

"Ehhhh? But they agree to play for us if we play for them! And if they're called 'miracles', their athleticism must be exceptional, right?"

Midorima stared Kageyama in the eye. "Since Akashi has said it himself, you certainly are welcome to observe our practice tonight. 9pm sharp."

"Geez, just how desperate are you and Akashi about recruiting these furballs?" Aomine jabbed a finger between Hinata and Kageyama.

Midorima eyed Aomine down. "We're not desperate. We're just offering them a chance to play with us. It's a blessing to most, really."

"This guy's getting on my nerves," Kageyama muttered. "He looks like he expects us to kneel and worship him the next second."

"We're actually on the same page for once," Hinata replied, a tick mark appearing on his forehead. "And he kinda reminds me of someone."

"Tsukishima and his holier-than-thou speech patterns? Yup."

"Don't listen to Midorin, Hinata-kun~ I think we'll have fun together!" Momoi winked at Hinata.

 _C-cute... pretty... she's got the tits too! A goddess! Just! Winked! At! Me!_

Hinata's face flushed red at an alarming rate, his hair standing on end.

"Dumbass blew a fuse!" Kageyama yelped.

"Again?!" Suga groaned. "That happened once with Shimizu, didn't it?!"

"If he keeps blowing fuses whenever a girl flirts with him, he's never gonna get a girlfriend," Kageyama sneered.

"Yeah. Or, you know, he could try swinging the other way." Suga poked Hinata's stiff back, wriggling his eyebrows at Kageyama. "If you know what I mean. _He seems perfectly fine when he's alone with you."_

"What the -" Kageyama spluttered, at a loss for words. "We stay behind for _practice_ , Sugawara-san! Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Sureeeee you do."

"Anywayyyy, I look forward to seeing you all again tonight! Aominecchi, Momocchi, we've gotta get going. I mean, our schools do have a game after Akashicchi is done with his. Kasamatsu-senpai texted and said they're starting warm-ups." Kise winced as he read the rest of the message. " _'If you don't arrive within fifteen minutes, I'll personally see to it that you won't be able to walk tomorrow.'_ Oh, shit. He sent that ten minutes ago... gotta run...!"

He bolted down the corridor leading to the gym where the Kaijou VS Touou game would take place. Aomine stretched and began walking in that direction as well. "Eh, I guess I can see that Haizaki bastard being beaten to a pulp by Akashi if we arrive early. Let's go, Satsuki."

"Do you just _have_ to hold such a grudge against Shougo-kun?" Momoi sighed, jogging to keep up with Aomine.

"That dildo stepped on Kise's foot during their WC match. I don't tolerate people who cheat in such a cheap way," Aomine barked over his shoulder.

"Or are you just being _protective_ of Ki-chan?"

Aomine grunted in response and quickened his pace. "E-eh? Dai-chan, wait up!"

Suga glanced at his watch. "Oh, we'd better go too! There are only fifteen minutes left before we have to get back! It was nice meeting you guys! I'll show up at your practice tonight!"

Hinata broke out of his trance. "Fifteen minutes...! Aw man, guess I'll have to get three cheeseburgers instead of five."

Kageyama took off running out of the sliding glass doors of the building. "Race you to the fast food place! Loser buys lunch for the other!"

"Eh?! No fair, you had a five-second head start! But I'm gonna catch up anyway, so you're onnnnn! You'll be paying for the katsudon I'm planning to order this afternoon! And I'm ordering four!" Hinata hollered, sprinting ahead as well.

"Wait, you two!" Suga facepalmed. "You don't even know the exact location of that burger place! You're gonna get lost, and Daichi will _kill_ me! Why did I even agree on coming along, I should've sent Ennoshita instead..."


	2. 2) Freshman Duos: Seirin VS Karasuno!

"Ha... you... you owe me... three plates... of pork curry..." Kageyama panted. "The kind... with the egg on top..."

"D... damn it..." Hinata groaned, catching his breath with his hands on his knees.

Thanks to Suga checking the location of the nearest Maji Burger with his phone before Kageyama and Hinata could get lost again, they'd managed to arrive with ten minutes to spare.

The restaurant was surprisingly full during brunch period. Suga gestured in the direction of the booths. "Find us some seats; I'll order for us to save time. Three double cheeseburgers for Hinata and the chicken set for Kageyama, right?"

"Yes, sir!"

"You've got to pay me back later, mind you!" Suga shouted as the two rushed towards the sitting area, probably competing over who could find seats the fastest.

"Ha, there's an empty booth over there! I spotted it first! I win!" Hinata pointed at four seats by the window, beaming triumphantly.

"Damn it." Kageyama stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked in the direction of the booth.

They settled down next to each other on the couch on one side as they waited for their senpai's return. "God, I'm so hungry..."

"Let's talk about something else to get our minds off the hunger," Kageyama suggested. "Do you feel up to using our quick against Fukurodani?"

"Eh? Of course I feel up to it! Just saying though, shutting Bokuto-san down would be the true problem..."

"Um, excuse me... those seats are taken."

"Huh?" The Karasuno duo blinked. A blank-faced bluenette suddenly appeared in the seat across from theirs.

" _G-g-ghost! There's a ghost in front of me!"_ Kageyama and Hinata screamed in unison.

"I'm not a ghost." Seirin's phantom, Kuroko Tetsuya, stated calmly. He did get that a lot, after all.

"See? I _told_ you we shouldn't have left Kuroko to save our seats for us."

Seirin basketball club's captain, Hyuuga Junpei, appeared behind Kuroko with a tray of food. Balancing it on one hand, the bespectacled sophomore smacked the back of Kagami Taiga's head.

"Ouch! But Captain, he only orders a vanilla milkshake every time! And it's meaningless to have him line up and get food, since the guy at the counter ignores him all the time!" The redheaded ace retorted, creasing his split eyebrows.

"Just let it go, Hyuuga-kun. I think Koganei-kun and Mitobe-kun found a bigger booth; we'll just sit there instead." Aida Riko, Seirin's second-year coach, turned on her heel in another direction.

"Uh, wait! You guys... _know_ this ghost over here?" Kageyama stabbed his finger at Kuroko.

"I'm not a ghost," Kuroko repeated, feeling slightly annoyed despite his expressionless face.

"They're the twenty-ninth and thirtieth strangers you've scared today, Kuroko," Kagami recorded.

"Wow, you counted properly for once, Bakagami-kun. That's impressive, considering the fact that you got a single-digit score on your math paper."

"What did you just say?!" Kagami snarled, grabbing Kuroko's head in his large palm.

"It was a compliment, Kagami-kun. Please let go."

"How are you guys talking to this ghost so casually?!" Hinata asked incredulously.

"Like I said, I'm not a ghost," Kuroko stared at Hinata.

"Despite what he looks like, he's actually our teammate. We're the Seirin High basketball club, by the way."

Hinata cringed, suddenly having the urge to stand up for the bluenette with a similarly tiny stature. They were both players with rather small physiques for the sports they play, and their abilities were often doubted at first.

Kuroko simply replied with, "what I do doesn't require height and bulk."

Hinata looked at the bluenette as if he was seeing him in a new light. _Daaaaaamn, isn't he angry that someone indirectly teased him about his height? If I were him, I would've exploded... that guy's self-control is exceptional!_

His eyes widened in recognition as the name of Kuroko's school clicked in his head. "Oh! Seirin... that Akashi guy mentioned you! Said he and the Generation of Miracles were gonna play against you by the end of next month..."

Kuroko's ears perked up. "Akashi-kun? You know him?"

"Just met him today, actually. He said he wanted us to play for them -" Kageyama's fist collided with Hinata's head. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"He said we were supposed to be their secret weapons, dumbass. You just revealed that 'secret' to our fricking _opponents._ "

"Oh. Right. Wait, 'our' opponents? So you agree to play with them?"

Kageyama froze. "Uh, no, not yet, I don't know, uh, I mean -"

"Our opponents, huh? Akashi's a really smart guy - I've gathered that much just from our game against Rakuzan during the WC. He must've picked you two for a reason. I'm Hyuuga Junpei, the second-year captain of Seirin High basketball club. This is Kagami Taiga, our ace, Kuroko Tetsuya, our phantom player and Kagami's partner, and Aida Riko, our coach -"

"Eh? You're the coach?" Hinata blurted, staring at the brunette with wide eyes.

Riko held her nose up high. "Yeah, I am. Do you have a problem with that?"

"It's pretty awesome that you have a cute girl as your coach, Hyuuga-san!"

Riko blushed, beaming. "Aw, you're flattering me!"

" _Just wait till you see how she's like at practice. Our training regimen will change your mind,"_ Hyuuga whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"What was that, Hyuuga-kun~?" Riko smiled innocently all the while menacingly cracking her knuckles.

Hyuuga's eyes widened. "E-eh? No, I didn't say anything."

"This dumbass and I are first-years from Karasuno High volleyball club; I'm Kageyama Tobio, and this shrimp is Hinata Shouyou."

"Huh. I thought Akashi would get some third-years to play for them or something."

"Akashi-kun is smart, Kagami-kun. So smart that it's scary. He has to be up to something."

Kagami shrugged. "Or maybe he's just mocking us by getting two newbies, thinking that he and the Miracles are so high and mighty that they don't need additional power at all. Who knows, he's probably planning on keeping those two on the bench for the entire game."

Kageyama stood, craning his neck to glare at the redhead who towered 10cm over him. "Are you looking down on us?" he hissed.

Kagami narrowed his eyes. "So what if I am?"

The two looked away from each other as their clenched fists were grabbed by their respective partners. "You jinx yourself by underestimating your opponents, Kagami-kun," Kuroko chided. "Akashi-kun must have seen talent in them that's worth cultivating. Oh, by the way, 'cultivating' means to develop -"

"I _know_ what that means, Kuroko! Don't fucking make fun of me!"

"Your Japanese still sucks, though."

"Oi!" Kageyama barked, prying his hand from Hinata's grip. "We're not done here, big guy!"

"Calm your freaking _tits_ , Kageyama-kun. That face of yours literally looked like a dictator about to give orders to have a guy executed. You'll lose if you fight this dude anyway - you can't punch properly when you're hungry. That one you threw at my head didn't even hurt."

" _That's_ what you're worried about?!" Kageyama exclaimed.

"Oh, I've been wanting to ask you this, Kuroko-kun. How did you just, like, _appear_ out of thin air just now?" Hinata asked without blinking, afraid that he might lose sight of the bluenette if he did.

"I didn't appear out of thin air; I've been here all along. You just didn't notice me, that's all."

"But - is it even possible to miss a guy sitting in a booth?! Hinata, you were the one who said this booth was empty!" Kageyama snapped accusingly.

"E-eh?! But it _was_ empty! You saw that, didn't you?!" Hinata protested.

"Hinata-kun isn't to blame - my lack of presence is why you didn't notice me," Kuroko explained. "It's useful on the court too. Particularly when I'm making plays with Kagami-kun."

"Eh? What, you appear and disappear in front of your opponents' eyes during games?"

"Precisely."

"... wow." Kageyama blinked. "How does that work?"

For the first time since the Karasuno freshmen had met him, Kuroko let a small smile creep onto his face as he positioned a finger over his lips. "A magician never reveals the trick behind the magic. You never reveal your hand to your opponents during a poker game. So... you're just going to have to see for yourself what Seirin's light and shadow are capable of during our game."

"Light... and shadow. That Akashi person said that he wanted us to be the new light-and-shadow duo to face off against yours..."

"Ah. Does this concept exist in volleyball as well? A shadow assisting the light in scoring points through making passes and combination plays?"

" _Oh._ So that's what he meant..." Kageyama nodded. "That emperor dude wants me to send you tosses - uh, passes - and be your _shadow_ , dumbass."

Hinata stroked his chin in thought. "You send me tosses, I spike them over... isn't that what we do in volleyball too?"

"Shouldn't really be a challenge, then. We've just gotta learn how to play basketball properly, and we're good. Fine, I'm in," Kageyama decided.

"Knew it! You wouldn't skip an opportunity to hang out with other sports prodigies!" Hinata whooped. "This is gonna be exciting!"

"Don't act like you know me well, dumbass," Kageyama flicked the back of Hinata's head.

"I won't say no if you're offering a chance for me to get to know you more. I mean, we are gonna be partners until we graduate from high school, right?"

Kageyama shrugged. "Yeah. I suppose."

Hinata grinned goofily. "Hey, I'm here to make sure you don't slip back into old habits and get yourself kicked off the court for being a demanding tyrant. As long as we're there together, we're invincible, remember?"

Kageyama smiled in spite of himself. "Yeah. We'll be the last ones standing on the court. Not saying that I won't leave you behind if you can't keep up with me, but I guess I'll try and make you, the _light_ , the best in Japan."

"Damn, that déjà vu's hittin' me like a brick," Kagami sighed dramatically. "Dude, were you listening in the bushes when Kuroko said the exact same thing to me?" he reached over the table and punched Kageyama in the shoulder.

"Eh? I'm from Miyagi prefecture..."

Kagami glanced at Kuroko, noticing that he was fidgeting with his fingers. "Oh, come on. I'll never leave you behind. Wherever the shadow is, there has to be a light with him, right?" Kagami ruffled the bluenette's hair. "If I go forward because I get stronger, it has to be because you got stronger too."

"Kagami-kun..."

Hyuuga faux-gagged and ushered Riko away from their table. "Let's get out of here, Riko. These four look like they're on a double date already."

"You guys should kiss," Riko called jokingly to the freshmen before joining the other Seirin second-years at the table Koganei found, where everyone was busy trying to ignore Izuki's horrible French fry puns until Hyuuga shoved half a packet of fries into the shorter male's mouth to shut him up with a roar of 'if you love fries so much, why don't you eat them all?!'

Five minutes later, Hinata and Kageyama were shoveling chicken nuggets into their mouths. Suga was tasked with squatting between them, holding a cheeseburger in his left hand and a chicken burger in his right as the freshmen turned their heads and bit into their burgers every twenty seconds.

"That's an... _interesting_ way of eating...?" Kuroko remarked.

"This looks like a mom feeding her kids to me," Kagami said bluntly.

"Uh... we're in a hurry...?" Suga said awkwardly as Kageyama chomped on his burger with his mouth already full of chicken.


	3. (idk what to name dis cringey shit :P)

"Aominecchi!" Kise hollered, sending a Kuroko-style Ignite Pass towards the hoop.

"Got it!" Aomine leapt with his back facing the backboard, tossing the ball behind him carelessly. By the time he'd finished high-fiving Kise, the ball had swished through the net.

Murasakibara just yawned, picking the ball up and passing it to Midorima, mumbling about how hungry he was. Midorima jumped, the ball ready to leave his hands.

"What the -- fuck it, Midorima, we weren't ready!" Aomine growled, turning on his heel and sprinting towards the shooting guard, Kise hot on his heels.

"Too late." The bespectacled tsundere let go of the ball, letting it sail through the air before shooting clean through the hoop. "Idiots. Do you expect the opponents to wait around while you finish that little celebration? Tch."

"Yeah. Nice shot to you too, Midorimacchi," Kise muttered, deactivating his Perfect Copy as a whistle sounded.

"And that's a wrap for today!" Momoi annnounced. "Dai-chan and Ki-chan win by two points!"

Midorima jabbed his finger at Murasakibara, who was sticking his head inside his sports bag looking for snacks. "I told you, Akashi, Libra isn't compatible with Cancer today. Sticking me with him will only lead to my loss. Oi, Murasakibara! Don't start eating right after a game -- you're leaving crumbs all over the floor!"

"Mido-chin, you aren't my mom. I do what I want." Murasakibara rolled his eyes, chomping away on his maiubo. "I don't see Aka-chin telling me off for eating, either."

"We won against them three times in a row, Aominecchi!!" Kise pumped his fists in the air, before prompting Aomine to give him another high-five.

Aomine shrugged. "Eh. Why are you so happy? It would've been weirder if we'd lost." He breezed right past the blond's palm.

"Ehhhh?! So rude!" Kise complained. "You can't just ignore someone waiting to high-five you!"

Momoi finished scribbling notes on her clipboard and glanced up at Akashi, who had a rather amused glint in his eyes as he surveyed the bickering pairs. The pink-haired girl felt a smile spread across her own lips. "This feels just like the old days, doesn't it? If Tetsu-kun were here, he'd probably be the mediator that sorts out the troubles."

Akashi nodded in agreement. "There's always a kind of magic to how Kuroko does things. It's astonishing how a shadow like himself had managed to touch the lives of so many people."

On the second landing, Daichi, Suga, Hinata, and Kageyama were watching the Miracles practice, rather stunned.

They'd originally planned to bring their coach Ukai Keishin as well, but he'd disappeared with their teacher advisor Takeda Ittetsu-sensei and Nekoma VBC's coaches after dinner. Along with Touou Academy's coach, Harasawa Katsunori and Kaijou High's Coach Takeuchi Genta (who looked as if it was the last day of his life when Harasawa dragged him along), they were probably going to a bar where they would get wasted and wake up with no recollection of the previous night's events.

"Miracles really are miracles, huh?" Suga remarked, the two-on-twos earlier on still playing in his head.

"So far we've seen a guy with phenomenal speed, can shoot from anywhere and in any posture, a guy who can copy his teammates' moves flawlessly, a guy who can make abnormally high shots with perfect accuracy, and a guy whose block is impenetrable..." Daichi ticked them off his fingers. "Damn. They seem to have physical stats even better than our very own ace. I mean, Asahi is huge, but he's slower because of that. Those people are even taller than him, and they look like they can all keep up with these two over here," Daichi analyzed, poking Hinata and Kageyama in their backs.

"And they're all first-years," Suga added, suddenly realizing he hadn't told his captain the fact that the Miracles were the same age as their club's freshmen.

Daichi froze in shock. "Geh?! Really? We have to get them to play for us, then! We could really use people like them. The girl's the manager... that leaves the redheaded guy, then. He's sat today's practice out and was giving out orders. He's probably the captain."

"He's the tiniest though," Kageyama pondered aloud. The third years, both aware of the fact that he towered over them, opened their mouths to reprimand him. "Just so you know, Kageyama, height doesn't define everything," Hinata spoke through gritted teeth.

Daichi and Suga shot grateful and relieved looks at the back of Hinata's head. He finally said something that made sense! He's taken the words straight outta my mouth too!

(Well, about time. He'd been all 'gwah' and 'boom' and whatnot ever since the three-pointer from Midorima kicked practice off.)

"Gather around, everyone!" Back on the court, Momoi waved the rest of the Miracles over. "Oh, and can the Karasuno guys get down here for a sec, too?"

Hinata, suddenly having an idea that might impress Momoi, pressed his hands on the railing and vaulted over it, landing unsteadily with a squat on the floor below. Momoi scurried over as he wobbled, extending his arms to keep his balance. "Are you okay?" the manager asked (despite being shocked by the stunt executed without warning), holding out her hand to help the orange-haired boy up.

"Yeah, I mean, it was a piece of cake! There isn't much height difference between these two floors, heh..." Hinata took Momoi's hand and straightened up.

"Oi, you could've gotten hurt! What were you thinking, dumbass?!" Daichi roared.

"Wow, you sounded just like Kageyama, Daichi!!" Suga exclaimed, not bothering to berate Hinata when Daichi's dad mode was on. "That's awesome!"

"With all due respect, Captain, it isn't like you don't know that Hinata never thinks before doing anything," Kageyama said, oblivious to the murderous stare Hinata was sending him.

Momoi sweatdropped. "Um... if you could please..."

"Sorry! We'll be right down!"

"Good job today, everyone," Akashi complimented.

"If you don't mind me asking, Akashi... why are we starting with two-on-twos instead of doing an orthodox training regimen?" Midorima queried.

"I trust that you still remember our junior high days? You always argued with Murasakibara, while Aomine was constantly picking fights with Kise. Perhaps your personalities are made to clash, but I can draw a conclusion that your coordination on the court has improved quite a bit. Honestly, I thought it would be better if we worked on the two most problematic duos first before rotating. We'll continue pitting you against each other during tomorrow's practice session. If we're lucky, you may be able to resolve your conflicts and even create a new combination play style. As for the plays that require the entire team to work together, we'll work on that after we've all grown comfortable with playing with each other again."

"I see."

Akashi turned towards their coach for tonight -- Shuutoku's Nakatani Masaaki. "Do you have anything you wish to add, Coach?"

"As Akashi has mentioned, we'll continue with the Aomine and Kise versus Midorima and Murasakibara games tomorrow night. For Aomine and Kise, if your coordination is ideal, we can make that surekill double team happen. It would be effective against Kagami from Seirin. As for Akashi and Momoi..." He swiveled towards the volleyball players. "Have you made a decision?"

"These two will be playing for you," Suga replied. The coach nodded. "Good. Akashi and Momoi will coach you."

"All right. I believe this calls for a more in-depth introduction. I'm Akashi Seijuurou, the captain of this team. I play the position of point guard, making me your main tutor, Kageyama-kun."

Kageyama flexed his arms. "That's good then. That's the position I know more than the others."

"You've played basketball?" Hinata gaped, all the while thinking 'if the emperor is teaching him... then do I get Momoi-san?' and started fanboying internally.

"Don't look so surprised. Point guards and setters have similar jobs. They're both the control towers of their teams."

"What makes Akashicchi our brilliant point guard is his perfect passes! With them, it's guaranteed that you won't miss your shot!" Kise gushed. "He can even predict the future with his Emperor Eye! It's 100% accurate, too!"

"Whoaaaaa! That's even cooler than Shiratorizawa's Guess Monster then! You don't even have to guess, the future you see is like, the actual future!" Hinata gasped in awe, envisioning Shiratorizawa's guess blocker, Tendou Satori's face when Akashi finally gives him a taste of his own medicine, only stronger, in their finale match.

"That depends. When I use the Emperor Eye, I might not be that much of a team player anymore."

"And that's when the absolute emperor pulls out the big guns," Aomine finger-gunned Akashi.

"Anyway, nice to meet you... uh, again! I'm Kise Ryouta, the ace small forward of Kaijou High basketball club. Some magazines call me 'the ever-evolving all-rounder' and 'the pretty boy copycat'. I also work part time as a model, so don't be surprised if I show up with bags of gifts from my dedicated fangirls!" he winked, before adding, "because I have to bring them here if I don't want to be late for practice. Kasamatsu-senpai will yell at me because I have to 'take responsibility for my own actions' if I call him and ask if he could take the presents back to our room. And then he'll kick me later on. His kicks fucking hurt." He rubbed his spine absentmindedly.

"He reminds me of someone else," Kageyama murmured.

"Pretty boy with fangirls who seems to be proud of that fact and corporal punishment? First there's a Stingyshima, now we have a Grand King," Hinata agreed.

"Basically, I started playing basketball during my second year of junior high because I admired Aominecchi's dominating play style and wanted to surpass it. My ability to recreate others' moves, teammates and opponents alike, on the spot as long as it isn't out of my physical range is what got me this far. That makes me a fast learner, and I have quite the collection of moves stored in here." He tapped the side of his head. "My special ability is the Perfect Copy, which enables me to copy these guys' signature moves and even combine them."

Daichi's eyes widened. "Wouldn't facing off against you be like going up against all five of you at once?!"

"Maybe. I'm thinking of a way to make use of three of their moves at once, but there's no luck so far."

"Kise-chin, remember that every time you use my blocks or Thor's Hammer you've got to pay me back with a box of maiubo. The mega one."

"Ehhhhh?! I thought we agreed that I won't owe you guys anything because it's for the sake of victory!"

"It only applies to the game against Seirin, idiot. We don't care about your team winning or not outside of this," Midorima scoffed. "By the way, make it canned red bean soup for me. The chilled kind."

"You guys are so mean~!" Kise whined.

"Well, it's the copyright or some shit," Aomine shrugged. "Eh. I'm Aomine Daiki, the ace power forward of this team and the Touou Academy team. I'm fast, I can shoot from any position and anywhere, I know streetball, I can activate the Zone with my own will, stuff like that. The end. Can we go now, Satsuki?"

"Can I go too? This is already annoying enough," Murasakibara groaned. "Murasakibara Atsushi, center, I'm from Yosen, I block and catch rebounds for the most part, I have this dunk called the Thor's Hammer, that's all. Bye."

"Uh, wait! How tall are you?" Suga asked.

"Two hundred and eight centimeters? That's about it." Murasakibara turned to leave.

"Two- two hundred and eight?!" Hinata screeched.

"He's our center, what did you expect?" Midorima huffed a sigh. "I guess I must introduce myself as well. I'm Midorima Shintarou. I can shoot high projectile three-pointers within a full court range. My shots will never miss when I have my lucky item. Very few people have managed to stop my threes. Ah, before we begin working together --" He whirled to face the Karasuno first-years. "What are your star signs? If you don't know them, tell me when your birthdays are."

"June 21."

"December 22."

"The summer solstice and the winter solstice... on the cusp, huh... do you know what time it was when you were born?" Midorima pressed on.

"I never bothered to ask my mother," Hinata replied.

"Same here."

Midorima gave an exasperated grunt and backed away. "Then there's no way to be sure what your star signs are... my guesses would be Gemini and Sagittarius for you two respectively... but still, don't come near me until you know your exact birth time."

"Is he... okay?" Hinata mouthed at Kise.

"Midorimacchi is a firm believer of the Oha Asa horoscope... it's why he always has a lucky item with him. The horoscope also predicts what star signs he won't be compatible with for the day, and he makes sure to stay as far away from people of those particular signs as possible so that they won't bring him bad luck. Since your star signs aren't clear, he's worried that he won't know when to avoid you two. Even though we all think it's a whole load of bullshit," Kise added the last part in a whisper.

"Whaaaaaat? You guys still aren't done?"

Midorima looked up to see his partner slash 'shadow', Takao Kazunari, leaning casually against the doorframe. "Takao? What are you doing here?"

"Why, Miyaji-san sent me, of course. He wanted to make sure you weren't doing any additional practice on your own after the Meet of the Miracles wraps up. So I'm here to deliver you back to our room, Shin-chan."

Kageyama's dark blue eyes suddenly lit up in recognition. "Kazu?"

Takao laughed. "Haha, took you long enough to notice me! Is it the because of the new hairstyle? Anyway, I haven't heard you call me that in ages, Tobi-chaaaaan~" He strode towards the setter, wrapped his arms around the latter's neck --

\-- and kissed him.

Hinata's mouth sprang open in shock. Midorima's eyes bulged slightly as he almost lost his grip on his lucky item, which he'd taken out earlier on.

Takao peeled his lips off Kageyama's with a flourish, looking rather surprised at Midorima's indescribable expression. "What's wrong, Shin-chan?"

"What exactly is going on here?" Midorima glared daggers at Kageyama, who stared right back at him.

"Aww, is Shin-chan jealous?" Takao teased.

"Of course not. Why would I be?"

"Kageyama... y-you... you have a... a boyfriend?!" Hinata gawked at them.

Kageyama snaked his arms around Takao's waist and smirked at his partner. "What do you think?"

Hinata blinked, still in shock.

"Damn, you're even taller than me now!" Takao commented, tilting his head back to look at Kageyama flirtatiously before glancing at Midorima and collapsing into a fit of giggles. "Oh God, Shin-chan, stop giving me that look! This is so OOC, someone please censor it -- holy shit, can I unsee this, I can't do this anymore -- you actually thought we were dating? This is so funny, I can't --"

"What was with the kiss just now then?" Midorima barked, trying to hide the fact that he was flustered as hell.

"You know me; it's just my way of greeting a relative I haven't seen in two years."

"RELATIVE?" almost everyone shouted.

Takao slung an arm across Kageyama's shoulders. "Isn't it obvious? Come on, guys, the hair, the eyes? We practically play the same position." Without waiting for a response, he eyed Kageyama with a scolding smile. "You've been slacking off fam gatherings to go and practice tosses, haven't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Kageyama raised his hands in surrender.

"No face-to-face chats, no video calls, no normal calls, there have only been texts since then. What do you have to say for yourself, Kageyama-kun?"

"Whoa, hold up! I'm sorry about interrupting your happy family reunion, but can someone explain what's going on here?!" Hinata piped up.

"Is that the 'perfect partner' you've told me so much about? Nice choice, he looks cute --"

"Kazu."

Takao blinked. "Whoa, protective boyfriend mode, I get it. Chill."

"Hinata and I are not --"

Not letting him finish, the hawk-eyed boy spun to their audience. "Sooooooo... for the peeps who don't know me, I'm Takao Kazunari, a regular on Shuutoku High's basketball team. As for the Karasuno guys, thanks for taking care of my baby cousin~ he can be a handful sometimes! Especially Hinata-kun -- it must be hard to put up with Tobi-chan, huh?" Hinata nodded vigorously.

"You don't get to call me your 'baby cousin' when you're barely a month older than me," Kageyama pointed out.

"Old habits die hard, y'know~ I've been calling you that since I could talk!"

"They might look similar, but their personalities are totally another story," Suga whispered to Daichi.

"If only Kageyama was more like him," Daichi sighed.

"Oh, wait -- so Megane-kun is the partner you said you invented that basketball quick with?" Kageyama pointed at Midorima.

"Not 'basketball quick', that name is so awkward," Takao winced. "It's called the 'sky direct three-pointer', mind you."

"'Basketball quick'?" That puzzled the other volleyball players.

"I said it's called the sky direct three-pointer!" Takao groaned exasperatedly.

Akashi stepped forward. "Recreating that shot is precisely the purpose of recruiting Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun. They're known for their infamous quick, after all. I would do it with Midorima myself, but I believe with a coach like that on their team, Seirin would probably expect us to use it. To put it quite frankly, I don't think we would lose, but surprising them will give us an even bigger advantage." The emperor faced Takao. "You're here anyway, Takao-kun. Would you mind demonstrating that shot with Midorima?"

"Okay, I guess. Should be easy enough for you then, Tobi-chan. Can you and Hinata-kun mark us? So that you can observe us closely? You just need to stand there, actually." Takao directed them to different positions on the court. He pulled off a fake to the left to throw Kageyama off, passing on the taller male's right. Before Hinata, Midorima jumped, already in his shooting form. The orange-haired blocker leapt as well, quickly catching up to the shooting guard. Alas, Midorima had height as his advantage. Takao sent a 'blind pass' (when in reality he was watching Midorima with his Hawk Eye) whirling into Midorima's left hand, and the latter let go of it without hesitation. The ball drew a perfect arc before landing swiftly through the net.

"Jumping before the ball is in his hands, the point guard sending it right into his hands," Kageyama noted. "Making use of that perfect passing accuracy and full court vision of yours... nice."

"I originally intended for this to be our thing, Shin-chan, but I guess I'll make an exception for my precious baby cousin."

"It's a shame we can't recruit other basketball players. With your Hawk Eye, Kuroko's misdirection won't be a problem," Akashi lamented.

"Haha, your court vision might not be as wide as mine, but it's still good enough. I'll be entrusting both Shin-chan and Tobi-chan to you then, Akashi~" Takao sang, patting Akashi's shoulder. "I'll tell Miyaji-san this gathering isn't over yet, so don't worry about getting hit by a pineapple. Well, yet. I overheard him asking Kimura-san to tell his family to mail every leftover pineapple to him." He gave an involuntary shiver.

"It's fine, actually. We're done here. Get some proper rest, we'll continue tomorrow night."

Hinata darted out of the gym doors first. "I CALL DIBS ON THE WINDOW SIDE BED!!"

Suga made an attempt to follow him. "Wait --"

"What the -- no you don't, I sure as hell am not sleeping on the one right next to the toilet! You smell your own shit!" Kageyama growled, running after Hinata, the strong wind he kicked up almost knocking Suga off balance.

Suga's shoulders slumped as Daichi steadied him. "I give up."

Daichi massaged the back of Suga's neck. "There, there. A proper night of sleep is what you need. You can have the window side bed, yeah?"

"'Kay."

 ** _Oh right, I forgot to mention that they were all paired up and crammed into different rooms ;) (so far my plan of not putting yaoi in is NOT working at all welp /)_**

 ** _(but y'all know you want it huehue_**

 ** _v(｡･ω･｡) )_**


End file.
